Madison Village to get outdoor ice-skating rink this winter

Madison Village is on its way to becoming a winter wonderland as officials from the Madison Joint Recreation District agree to cooperate with the Madison Garden Club to provide free public ice skating during December, January and February.
This is the second year the garden club has tried to replicate an outdoor ice-skating venue similar to the one in the city of Geneva. The Madison Garden Club is donating $2,000 for the purchase of a portable ice rink from Nice Rink Brackets and is joining with other civic groups to maintain the 30-by-60 foot rink. The club is looking for more groups to snowblow and resurface the rink, which will sit at Klingbeil Park, 58 West Main St.
“As part of the recommendation, we said this has to be a privately funded entity,” said village Councilman Duane Frager, who heads the recreation district and is a part of the roads and parks advisory group. “So we’re not looking for any (village) dollars being contributed.”
The Madison Joint Recreation District, which for the last two years has been privately funded through drives and partnerships, agreed Thursday to pay $400 for the rink and is looking into including it under its liability insurance policy. In addition, the recreation district is going to solicit the remaining $400 needed for the rink.
The village’s portion in the deal is to provide storage for the portable ice rink during the offseason and offer labor to set up and tear down the rink at the beginning and end of the season. Kay Kane, the woman leading this effort for the Garden Club, estimates the labor to be two to four hours with two workers.
Kane, a township resident and former Garden Club president, said the portable rink needs to be ordered by Friday in order to meet a Dec. 1 deadline and receive a $150 discount.
Kane presented the program and all of its financial and physical logistics to Village Council at last Monday’s meeting.
“It’s our $2,000 gift to the community for supporting the Madison Garden Club,” Kane said.
In receiving village approval, the club adopted eight recommendations from the village’s roads and park group, which include finding groups to provide maintenance.
The club also drafted a list of rules for rink usage, which include a strict policy of no hockey.
Kane said the club is volunteering its members to ensure the rules are enforced for the first year and set the groundwork for future years. Kane said the strategy should avoid straining police resources.
And finally, Kane said despite having posted hours of operation between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., the rink won’t always be available to skate on pending warm conditions. In those cases, volunteers will be posting a red flag when the rink is closed and a green flag when it is open.
Although the club provided the bulk of the purchase, Kane said the village or recreation district will have ownership of the rink when purchased.

About the Author

Simon Husted joined the News-Herald in February 2013. The Buffalo native and Kent State graduate covers schools and community issues in Fairport Harbor, Perry Township, Perry Village, North Perry, Madison Township and Madison Village. Reach the author at shusted@news-herald.com
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